Hoverboards exploded onto the personal transportation scene in 2015 — and they also exploded in a few homes. While these futuristic-sounding motorized boards sound like a fun gift, it may be wiser, and safer, to wait to buy one until they prove they’re not a trend that will flame out. The primary issue stems from the wide variety of products on the market and little quality control.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission, a government agency dedicated to consumer protection, is currently investigating five fire incidents in California, Ohio, Texas, Louisiana and Alabama. The agency has also received reports of people experiencing severe trauma after falling off of hoverboards. “What we want to know is whether hoverboards or particular hoverboards have the potential to malfunction and unexpectedly lead a consumer to fall and be injured,” says Scott Wolfson, communications director for the CPSC.

Wolfson says hoverboards are especially difficult to regulate because there are no universally agreed upon safety standards determined by the manufacturers, allowing lesser-quality items to slip into the market. However, he expects improvements to be made to their design and compares today’s concern over hoverboards to lithium ion battery fires in cellphones and laptops in the mid-2000s. After a number of recalls, separate standards were created for those products and fires caused by overheated batteries were no longer a major consumer issue.

So while 2016 may not be the year to buy hoverboards, aspiring Marty McFlys can hold out hope that it’s the year these issues are worked out.

Few analysts expected the Apple Watch to be a blockbuster gadget like the iPhone or even the iPad, but they welcomed Apple Inc.’s
AAPL, +1.30%
foray into wearable devices, which is expected to be a growing market over the next decade. And the holiday season is expected to be good for the gadget: Investment banking firm FBR & Co. estimates that Apple will sell between 5 million and 6 million units in December, compared with 6 million Apple Watches it has sold overall in the roughly six months since its late-April launch. To put that in context, Apple sold more than 48 million iPhones in the fiscal fourth quarter alone, up from more than 39 million in the same period a year earlier. (Apple did not respond to request for comment.)

But there are reasons why many Americans have stuck with their digital watches (or smartphones) to tell the time. There are three available options and they’re not cheap: the Apple Watch Sport starts at $349, Apple Watch starts at $549 and the more classic Apple Watch Edition made of solid gold will cost at least $10,000. And there are much cheaper alternatives out there. The Pebble smartwatch, which is compatible with Apple iOS and Android software and also monitors distance traveled, heart rate and duration for runners, was rated the best smartwatch by Tom’s Guide and costs $99.99 on Amazon.com. Plus, the Apple Watch does a lot of what the iPhone already does: Tells the time, sends emails and text messages to friends, makes calls and uses Apple Pay mobile-payment service.

That said, it’s a fitness device rather than a health device, and will likely experience significant upgrades, analysts say. The Apple Watch has enough health features without triggering regulatory requirements for medical devices by the Food and Drug Administration that govern safety and effectiveness, and measures your heart rate every 10 minutes rather than in real time.

But analysts say this may change over time, and Apple is in the wearable gadget business for the long haul, and recently linked up with drone and action camera maker GoPro
GPRO, +1.31%
to provide remote control of the latter’s cameras. Plus, Apple’s iPhone 6 and 6 Plus represent 18% of all iPhones in use in the U.S, “which is good news for the Apple Watch that interacts only with these newer models,” according to Carolina Milanesi, chief of research and head of U.S. business at Kantar WorldPanel ComTech. “There are a certain number of Apple iPhone users who will always want the latest and greatest,” says Andrew Seybold, an independent consultant in wireless technology in Santa Barbara, Calif.

—Quentin Fottrell

Getty ImagesThe view might make you feel nauseous.

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3. Virtual reality headsets

The concept is a compelling one — pop on a headset and immerse yourself in a 3-D alternate universe that you can interact with — but experts say you should wait to purchase virtual reality headsets for at least a year.

For one, many of the best-reviewed models are still quite expensive, says Benjamin Glaser, the features editor at DealNews.com. While you can purchase the much-talked-about Samsung Gear VR headset for $99, you also have to have a relatively new Samsung
005930, +0.51%
Galaxy smartphone (like the Galaxy Note5, Galaxy S6 edge+, Galaxy S6 or Galaxy S6 edge) to go with it, which can add hundreds of dollars to the cost. A spokesperson for Samsung notes that “millions” of people already own phone that is compatible with the headset, which “provides a rich catalog of immersive video, games, and educational content.”

Other high-quality headsets cost upwards of $200 and they work best with certain kinds of computers and may not be compatible with others, Glaser says. Oculus Rift notes that its users should have a PC that has at least 8GB RAM, runs Windows 7 SPI or newer, and has Intel i5-4590 or greater for its CPU, among other requirements, for example. Some will cost upwards of $1,000 for the headset and computer. But as the technology improves and there is more competition, prices will likely drop, he adds.

What’s more, “it’s likely that we don’t see deals on these devices until early 2017,” says Kristin Cook, the managing editor of deal site Ben’s Bargain’s, and that’s “assuming first generation models are readily available during early to mid-2016,” she adds.

And Glaser says that because these products are still pretty new, the “tech is still not fully worked out” and will likely get significantly better in the coming years. Case in point: Oculus CR headsets have created simulation sickness in some users, although Oculus chief executive Brendan Iribe has acknowledged this and said the company is working on solving this problem for future models. Plus, the content available for them is still “very, very limited,” he adds — something that the manufacturers will likely remedy in the coming years.

Anyone who has been to a tourist destination, wedding or even just on a sidewalk in the past year would have had trouble escaping a selfie-stick, the tool used by people desperate to share a picture of themselves but can’t be bothered to ask someone else to take it.

Sure, selfie-sticks, which typically range in price from about $8 to about $25, can help you avoid awkward conversations with strangers when you want to take a picture in front of a famous building or piece of art with friends. But you can’t bring them to some of the world’s largest tourist destinations: Disney World, music festival Coachella, the Sistine Chapel in Italy and the Palace Museum in Beijing have banned them. So throw away that selfie stick and don’t buy a new one this year, you can’t use them to take pictures at the greatest sites anyway.

—Jillian Berman

Minerva Studio / Shutterstock.comKeep the leisurewear in the gym.

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5. Athleisure for work

When you roll out of bed sleep-deprived and in desperate need of coffee, it can be tempting to don a pair of leggings, a t-shirt and a blazer and head to the office. And it’s particularly hard to resist that temptation when clothing retailers everywhere are trying to convince you to wear workout gear to work.

Athleisure, that class of gym clothes intended to be worn in public, is booming. Fans are creating cute weekend looks by pairing leggings with fitted jackets, chunky sweaters or long shirts. High-end retailers like Bergdorf-Goodman are carrying $400 pairs of leggings and designers like Tory Burch and Rebecca Minkoff are offering their own athleisure-inspired lines. As proof of the popularity of this high-end leisurewear, Merriam-Webster even plans to add the word to the dictionary in 2016.

But unless you’re someone who is paid to look good, such as supermodel Gigi Hadid, who recently sported an athleisure outfit (and pulled it off), the look is likely not appropriate for your place of business (no matter how many other people you see doing it), or for anywhere outside of the workout room for that matter, according to fashion expert Tim Gunn.

So in 2016, vow to keep the leggings at home or in the gym, or if you must, at least wear a top that completely covers your butt.

—Jillian Berman

Getty ImagesThese water bottles don’t connect to the Internet, but they will keep you hydrated.

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6. ‘Smart’ water bottles

You can connect almost anything to the Internet these days — toilets, refrigerators and watches — you name it. Now, it turns out, you can also get alerts about how much water you should drink.

The HidrateSpark water bottle ($60), for example, which is available for preorder for a 2016 launch, recommends daily water intake goals based on how many steps you take and the weather, and it syncs with a corresponding mobile app to send reminders to your phone to take a sip. The water bottle is also equipped with LED lights to “subtly glow,” according to the company’s website, to remind you to drink.

The water bottle company launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter with a goal of $35,000, and has since surpassed that goal, reaching more than $627,000, so it has a legion of supporters. To some exercisers and the health-conscious, such features can ensure proper hydration. Asked why people should spend $60 on a water bottle, the company said in a statement: “In today’s age people are busy ...even people who are health conscious can get busy they forget to drink water.”

But of course, for free, you can take a glass from your kitchen cabinet and keep it at your desk at work as a reminder to hydrate even when you don’t feel thirsty. And you can use a post-it note to log refills if keeping track mentally is difficult.

Getty ImagesBe wary of oddball bourbons coming to a liquor store near you.

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7. Bourbon

The booze of choice for many Americans in recent times has become bourbon. Sales of the corn-based spirit — and its close cousin Tennessee whiskey — grew by 46% from 2009 to 2014, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. But not everyone is giving an unqualified cheer to the bourbon boom. Industry observers note that liquor-store shelves have been inundated of late with gimmicky or oddball versions of the spirit, from ones branded with celebrity names to others flavored with everything from apple to black cherry. “Some of the products that have been rushed to the market have not been the best,” says Noah Rothbaum, a noted spirits authority and author of the recently published “Art of American Whiskey.”

Plus, while a good bourbon can be a pleasure to drink, a few sippers argue that the smooth and slightly sweet spirit doesn’t have the depth or character of, say, rye, another classic American whiskey that’s gaining considerable ground sales-wise. “Rye is more unctuous and feisty,” Rothbaum says.

That said, bourbon isn’t exactly going away anytime soon. “Growth continues to be very strong,” says Frank Coleman, a spokesman for the Distilled Spirits Council, noting that high-end bourbons continue to be especially prized for their quality. Consider the Pappy Van Winkle line of bourbons that are aged up to 23 years and can sell for more than $1,000 a bottle.

—Charles Passy

FitbitAre fitness trackers a fad, or key to your wellness?

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8. Fitness trackers

Fitness trackers are the new hot devices among early adopters. Ownership of activity trackers is expected to peak at 32 million by the end of 2016, up from about 10 million in 2013, according to The NPD Group, a market research company, and the devices are expected to be among the top tech gifts this holiday season. These devices — typically wristbands that monitor how many steps the wearer takes on a daily basis and your heart rate — can help people become more aware of just how active or sedentary they are by providing them with hard data.

Fitbit
FIT, +5.18%
the most popular fitness tracker, held more than 22% of market share in the third quarter of 2015, according to International Data Corporation. The company’s devices cost from $60 to $250 and are capable of identifying movement during activities like dancing, running, walking or using an elliptical. Some 91% of users say the device and accompanying app motivate them to be more active, according to a company survey. “We think there are inherent advantages to wearing health tracking devices vs. tracking activity with a phone app alone,” says a Fitbit spokeswoman, including real-time feedback, sleep-tracking and 24/7 automatic detection of exercise movements.

But while wearing a fitness band could incentivize people to walk more and increase their step counts, about 40% of wearers stop using the device within six months, NPD also found. And while most activity trackers can measure motion, they usually can’t tell you how hard you’re exerting yourself on heavy lifts. (There are more elaborate options for hardcore fitness fanatics: You can even buy an outfit that monitors which muscles are firing during specific exercises from the fitness clothing company Athos for several hundred dollars.)

And you can also get most of the data provided by fitness devices already included on many smartphones. On iPhones with iOS 8 and iOS 9 software, Apple Health tracks calories burned, heart rate, steps walked and stairs climbed. Fitbit offers a free Apple app that can run on its own, and Android users can measure activity through the Google Fit
GOOG, +1.20%
app, which syncs with a variety of other fitness apps to aggregate health data.

Apple debuted its iPad Pro — a lightweight, 12.9-inch tablet-meets-laptop device — earlier this year, and while some critics went gaga for it, other experts say you should wait to buy this device — for about a year, at least. “It’s a first-generation product, and practically a brand-new product category,” explains Benjamin Glaser, the features editor at DealNews.com. “Anytime there is a brand-new product category, you’re likely to find glitches and problems that haven’t been worked out.” Apple has already acknowledged that the iPad Pro sometimes stops responding and the screen goes black,which it says updating to iOS 9.2 “might” prevent form occurring in the future.

Future editions of the iPad Pro are also likely to have significant upgrades, based on Apple’s other technology products. When the iPhone debuted in 2007, it didn’t have 3G, and the iPad made its initial debut without a camera — both of which became beloved features for Apple fans.

Even if this product has all the features you want and few glitches, the price is high — starting at roughly $800 with 32 gigabytes of memory — and waiting to buy may pay off for the budget-conscious consumer. The reason: Apple and its resellers routinely offer older versions of products for significantly less than their original price when a new version of the product comes out. For example, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus now start at $99 and $199 with a two-year contract, whereas these product started at $199 and $299 when they debuted in 2014. (Apple did not respond to request for comment.)

To be sure, Apple products are typically known for their superior features and quality and many consumers who already use Apple products will want to stay within the Apple ecosystem with their technology purchase. Plus, the iPad Pro and its competitors like the Microsoft Surface could be “sparking a paradigm shift in the industry,” writes MarketWatch’s Jennifer Booton.

—Catey Hill

Shutterstock.comDown payment insurance lapses after seven years.

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10. Down payment insurance

A new insurance policy product goes on the market in January 2016 that promises to protect the down payment on your home if the real estate market goes south again, and while it’s probably a good idea for those who are first-time buyers and don’t plan to stay in a home for a long time, it might not be a good fit if you’re going to make a long-term commitment. The policy, called +Plus by Dallas-based ValueInsured, isn’t designed for speculative buyers: You have to live in the home and you can’t make a claim on the insurance for two years, and it lapses after seven, meaning you only pay premiums for seven years. It’s designed for borrowers who might have to move suddenly for a job, like military families.

Here’s how it works: The insurance costs about $1,200 for a $20,000 down payment, but it will protect a down payment of up to $200,000 for a higher premium price. But the policy only kicks in if the market — as determined by the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Home Price Index — along with the value of your individual home falls 10% or more, and then you only get back whatever is less, meaning either the amount of equity you lost, or the actual down payment, up to $200,000.

Down payment insurance could be a good idea if you move into a marginal market where there are still large clusters of homes with negative equity, such as Stockton, Calif., which saw some of the worst price drops during the real estate crash of 2006 to 2012 with home values cut by half as a result of widespread foreclosures that even sent the city into bankruptcy. (The city exited bankruptcy protection last February.)

Real estate prices are improving in most markets, albeit at a gradual pace. There are still 7.9 million borrowers underwater (meaning they owe more than their house is worth) after the real estate crash that began in 2006 - about 15% of all mortgaged borrowers — though it’s down from about 16 million at the depths of the real estate crash, when prices hit a 13-year low in January 2012, according to Zillow.com.

The +Plus product is a good fit for some young or first-time buyers, who are likely to move within seven years and might not be able recoup lost equity if their real estate market goes down before they have to sell, says Joe Melendez, ValueInsured’s CEO. He’s also the first to say that the product isn’t for borrowers who plan to live in a home a long time and can weather the ups and downs of the real estate market over a long period. “If you’re buying a home that you will live in for 30 years, don’t buy this product,” he said.

A new insurance policy product goes on the market in January 2016 that promises to protect the down payment on your home if the real estate market goes south again, and while it’s probably a good idea for those who are first-time buyers and don’t plan to stay in a home for a long time, it might not be a good fit if you’re going to make a long-term commitment. The policy, called +Plus by Dallas-based ValueInsured, isn’t designed for speculative buyers: You have to live in the home and you can’t make a claim on the insurance for two years, and it lapses after seven, meaning you only pay premiums for seven years. It’s designed for borrowers who might have to move suddenly for a job, like military families.

Here’s how it works: The insurance costs about $1,200 for a $20,000 down payment, but it will protect a down payment of up to $200,000 for a higher premium price. But the policy only kicks in if the market — as determined by the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Home Price Index — along with the value of your individual home falls 10% or more, and then you only get back whatever is less, meaning either the amount of equity you lost, or the actual down payment, up to $200,000.

Down payment insurance could be a good idea if you move into a marginal market where there are still large clusters of homes with negative equity, such as Stockton, Calif., which saw some of the worst price drops during the real estate crash of 2006 to 2012 with home values cut by half as a result of widespread foreclosures that even sent the city into bankruptcy. (The city exited bankruptcy protection last February.)

Real estate prices are improving in most markets, albeit at a gradual pace. There are still 7.9 million borrowers underwater (meaning they owe more than their house is worth) after the real estate crash that began in 2006 - about 15% of all mortgaged borrowers — though it’s down from about 16 million at the depths of the real estate crash, when prices hit a 13-year low in January 2012, according to Zillow.com.

The +Plus product is a good fit for some young or first-time buyers, who are likely to move within seven years and might not be able recoup lost equity if their real estate market goes down before they have to sell, says Joe Melendez, ValueInsured’s CEO. He’s also the first to say that the product isn’t for borrowers who plan to live in a home a long time and can weather the ups and downs of the real estate market over a long period. “If you’re buying a home that you will live in for 30 years, don’t buy this product,” he said.

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